Coupled electrostatic and mechanical FEA of a micromotor

The electrostatic forces occurring in a novel double stator axial-drive variable capacitance micromotor (VCM) are studied as a function of rotor-stator overlap, applied voltage, rotor support morphology, and rotor thickness. The influence of the rotor pole deflection of the resulting axial forces is studied for several rotor designs using indirect coupled field analysis. This technique employs mechanical and electrical 3D finite element models with the rotor surface as the common interface and can be used in any structural analysis of microelectromechanical systems where forces are present between conductors.